


Not Yet Explored

by fresne



Category: Solar System (Anthropomorphic)
Genre: Multi, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 17:36:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9000259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fresne/pseuds/fresne
Summary: New Horizons carried a postal stamp. A special stamp. One she was taking it to its destination and beyond.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/gifts).



New Horizons carried a postal stamp. A special stamp. One she was taking it to its destination and beyond.

It was a charge.

An honor that she shared with her seven instrument crew.

As the time finally came to depart, they assembled.

Rex was the first to arrive. He gave her a calm wave. He worked on radio science investigations. His calm demeanour came from being an ultra-stable crystal oscillator.

The next were two of the opticals. The honeymooners, who had married just before the mission.

Ralph, a telescope and photographer said to his bride, "To the moon, Alice."

Alice, their ultra-violet imaging spectrometer and photographer, cooed back to her husband, "Past the moons of Pluto."

Lorri sighed. "I still can't believe they downgraded Pluto. A dwarf planet. All this training and preparation and for a dwarf."

"Now, then," said Peppsi, part of their plasma and high-energy particle spectrometer. "I don't like to hear that kind of talk. It's planetist."

"A planet doesn't have to be a giant to have value." New Horizon's prepared for launch. "Everyone, if I could have your attention."

Swap looked up from his sensor checks for mapping solar winds and electrostatic analysis.

Venetia Burney, a perpetual student, who would be measuring dust farther out than dust had ever been measured before, paused documenting the voyage on social media.

New Horizon said, "I'd like everyone to take a moment and look at our stamp. What does it say?"

"Not yet explored!" said her crew.

"And what are we going to do?" asked New Horizon.

"We're exploring it," said her crew.

Lorri focused her lenses. "It's a picture of Pluto. A downgraded planet."

"It is a picture of Pluto. We're going out past that unexplored world. We're a special breed, we deep space explorers. Because when we leave Earth, we won't come back. We'll just keep going." New Horizons looked at the sky. "To quote a favorite song writer of mine, we'll be going into the black. Tell my ma, I won't be coming back."

From beneath them, Earth chuckled.

Lorri looked at a chronometer. "If we don't leave soon, we'll miss the optimal window. It could take us two to four years longer to make it to Pluto."

Rex said, "This is the fastest craft that has ever been built. I have no concerns about our trajectory."

"Thank you for your support, Rex. No worries, because we are a go." New Horizons was fitted to her rockets.

They lifted off. She smoothly transitioned to her Centaur second stage and ATK Star third stage rockets. Within nine hours, she was over the Moon.

The Moon called out. "Safe journeys and tell everyone not to be such a stranger."

"Thanks and will do, Moon," called back New Horizons.

Ralph whispered to Alice, "We're over the moon. I always promised you I'd take you over the moon."

"Oh, Ralph," said Alice, "this is just so exciting. I just know that we'll take some beautiful pictures."

Lorri adjusted her lenses. "We're still a very long ways away." She sighed. "What if it's just a ball of ice when we get there. Just a featureless ball of ammonia. It's not even a planet any more. What if,"

New Horizons said, "I'm over the moon and heading out of the inner solar system. Whatever we find on Pluto will be amazing." Honestly, New Horizons was more concerned with the journey. The act of exploring itself.

Swap said, "Solar wind in our sensors. A bright star to guide us."

"Here, here," said Rex.

They flew on.

As they reached the asteroid belt, they had the unexpected pleasure of passing 132524 APL, who said, "Oh, I. This is such an honor. I mean. I'm sorry about my eccentric orbit. It's a bit of a mess."

"No worries," said New Horizons. "We're here on a journey of exploration."

"It's what we do," said Swap.

"It's who we are," said Pepssi.

"Here, here," said Rex.

Venetia Burney reminded everyone to update their social media posts. "We want Earth kept up to date and I know we have followers in the rest of the solar system."

Lorri, Ralph and Alice took some pictures as they passed.

They kept busy running tests and calibrations as they continued out of the inner solar system. New Horizons, who had had to focus on keeping everyone cool for the inner journey, now switched her focus to keeping her crew warm.

She was running those calculations when Lorri yelled, "I can see him. I can see him."

They all peered at the blurry pictures. Ralph said, "I love what you did with perspective here."

New Horizons adjusted their trajectory. "A solar wind."

Swap said, "And a blurry picture to guide us."

"Here, here," said Rex.

New Horizons reminded the crew that as they approached Jupiter that this was just the dress rehearsal for Pluto.

"But its Jupiter," said Lorri, "King of the Solar system."

Alice giggled, "Don't let Ralph hear you." She went ulta-violet. "I mean. I love Ralph."

"We know," said Rex.

As they came closer, Io, one of Jupiter's moons, she blew plasma bubble. She giggled. "Hey, there, Earthlings. It's a pleasure ta make your acquaintance, I'm sure."

"An absolute pleasure," said Ralph. "Over the moon, Alice."

Alice smiled as she measured ultra-violet.

Io said, "I can see filmin' there. I been thinking, it would be nice to have a little video, somethin' tasteful of Jupiter and me having' sexy fun times. You know for later."

"Uh," said Ralph.

"Yes," said Lorri.

They filmed several eruptions from Io towards Jupiter. As Ralph filmed a 210 foot eruption from Io's Tvashtar Paterae region, he said, "That is a very… Alice should I be?"

"We are over the moons, baby," said Alice.

"Alice, you are the best," said Ralph, who kept taking pictures. He slipped into his Leisa channel to explore with his more feminine infra-red imaging spectrometer. In the ultra-violet spectrum, Alice took picture.

Venetia Burney said, "I don't know that I'm old enough to watch the two of you… I'll measure dust."

New Horizons wasn't ashamed to admit it, but she used Jupiter. "I need you for your gravity."

"Everyone does eventually. Be sure to send back word to Earth that… you know never mind," said Jupiter.

As they swung out from Jupiter, New Horizons experienced an uncorrectable memory error. She went into safe mode.

"Once wrong," cried Lorri.

"Earth is looking into that. This is why we have a safe mode," said Rex.

They lost a couple of days taking pictures of Jupiter's magnetosphere. "That such a relief," said Lorri. "This could have been so much worse." She looked at her blurry pictures of Pluto and Charon.

After that, they went into hibernation most of the time. Waking up once a year to be sure all their systems were in good shape.

The fifth time they woke up, Earth sent word that two new Pluto moons had been discovered.

The perpetual honeymooners giggled.

Lorri said, "But what if there is dust left over from the formation of the solar system. We could kplow."

Venetia Burney said, "I could measure that dust."

Swap said, "Or it could be cool."

"Lorri, this is a NASA mission. We have a plan for that. If we observe debris, I'll simply turn so my back faces the dust to keep the crew safe."

They came near Neptune and had to decide if they should explore his Trojans, but decided that Pluto was more important.

Lorri waved the pictures she'd taken of Pluto and Charon. "Very important. Look at them. Two separate shapes." She sighed. "Rex, are you sure it's too far too talk to them."

"Not yet," said Rex.

As they woke up for the last time before they reached Pluto, it was different for everyone. Lorri and Ralph put in the extra hours figuring out how to get them where they needed to go.

Then if happened. The software glitch. New Horizons went into safe mode. "Everyone, it's all fine. This is NASA. There are safeties on safeties."

Lorri said, "We're never getting to Pluto."

"It's safe mode," said Rex. "Everything will be fine."

New Horizons realized why the problem had occurred and had to laugh at herself. "There was a malfunction in the system that backs up data before we approach Pluto. We'll do this again, so,"

"Not a problem," said Rex.

Swap muttered. "Timing problems. It's always about timing."

"So what does this mean?" asked Lorri.

"We're still going to Pluto," said New Horizons. "It didn't interfere with our primary mission."

They came closer.

"Look at the ice mountain ranges," said Lorri.

"Look at how he's tidally locked with Charon," said Ralph.

"Over the moon, baby," whispered Alice.

Pluto spun. He said. "I heard you were coming and… and… this is just… I know I'm just a dwarf planet… but…"

Charon said, "Just show them, Pluto."

Pluto spun around. Revealed a wide beautiful heart. He said, "You probably think that it's mushy. I get this heart that from my tidal connection with Charon. He pulls at my under surface ocean."

Charon orbited. "That's our Pluto, a liquid anti-freeze heart here on the edge of the solar system."

They orbited each other.

"Oh," said Alice.

"Oh," said Ralph. "Over the moon." They honeymooners didn't neglect the other moons. They took all sorts of pictures of Nix, Hydra, Kerberos and Styx.

Swap and Pepssi sampled the atmosphere and examined the effects of the solar wind. "Look at that," said Swap, "even this far out, Sol is keeping in communication."

"He is what holds the system together," said Pluto.

"Like you hold me," said Charon.

The honeymooners sighed happily.

Ralph switched his MVIC and took overlapping pictures with Lorri.

"Don't forget to use, Leisa," said Alice.

"You're the best, Alice," said Ralph switching to his Leisa channel to get in touch with his feminine aspects and to get hyperspectral near-infrared maps.

Alice continued characterizing the atmosphere. "There's an atmosphere."

Venetia Burney busily counted dust.

Rex examined radio waves passively. Then as a scientist, he did it again, but actively. "Look at how he osculates as we pass."

"That tickles," said Pluto.

"Sorry," said New Horizons. "My crew is checking your mass and your size as we pass you."

"No, I," Pluto giggled, "I like it."

"Pluto gives good Doppler effect," said Charon. "That's why he'll always be a planet to me."

"To each other," said Pluto over his giggles.

"I can do the same thing, but with light," said Alice. "Which won't tickle you."

"You're the best, Alice," said Ralph.

They took pictures as long as they could. For days, they spent every moment analysing and observing. As they flew further out, they said goodbye to Pluto and Charon, and updated Earth.

New Horizon waited for orders. "Crew, if I could have your attention."

Everyone stopped looking at their pictures from Pluto.

"We have our new orders." New Horizons paused. "But first, everyone what does the stamp say?"

"Not Yet Explored!" said her crew.

"A picture of a beautiful Pluto before we got to know his heart," whispered Lorri.

"We are still part of a special breed," said New Horizons. "We're going to explore 2014 MU in the Kuiper belt, and from then…"

"We'll explore what's not yet explored," they all said.

"It's what we do," said Swap.

"It's who we are," said Pepssi.

"Here, here," said Rex.

"Until we go there," whispered Lorri.

"Past the moons of Pluto," said the honeymooners as they snuggled.

And that's what they did.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like my writing, check out my profile for links to other works.


End file.
